Standard Operating Procedures of Use of Force Policy-Core Principal#2; Critical decision-making and tactical deployment techniques include tactical communication and positioning. Use of Force Policy-Core Principal#2; De-escalation, the action of communicating verbally or non-verbally to reduce, stabilize or eliminate the immediacy of a threat. De-escalation may also be used to creat the time needed to allow the situation to resolve itself or to position additional resources to resolve the situation with the least amount of force necessary.
Separated while IA pending
not reported
Plain-language summary (this site, from the cited record only)
According to the NJ Department of Human Services, Officer John Harris was disciplined in 2024 in connection with a use-of-force incident, and the record lists 5 days of suspension. On November 28, 2023, Harris assisted a fellow officer with a client who attempted to elope from a State health care facility. The client's behavior progressed from passive resistor to active resistor to active assailant and spat on Harris and another officer. Harris used physical force to stop the assault on the officers.
Synopsis as reported by the agency
On November 28, 2023 Officer John Harris assisted a fellow officer with a client who attempted to elope from a State Health Care Facility. Upon contact the client's behavior progressed from a Passive Ressitor, to an Active Resistor, and ultimately became to an Active Assailant. The client spat on Officer Harris and another Officer on scene. At which time, Officer Harris used physical force to cease the assault upon law enforcement officers.
Plain-language summary (this site, from the cited record only)
Officer John Harris was suspended for 15 days by the NJ Department of Human Services in 2021 after he mishandled a vehicle pursuit. The sustained charge in this record was incompetency or inefficiency, and no additional detail was reported.
Synopsis as reported by the agency
Officer Harris was suspended for 15 days for mishandling a vehicle pursuit.
The amount is as reported by the New Jersey Department of the Treasury in its YourMoney pension data, as of March 31, 2026. It is the pension-basis figure and may not include overtime, accrued leave, stipends, or other pay. The link between this officer and this pension record is a records-based match at high confidence (exact name and exact employing agency), not a certified identity. If it is wrong, we will remove it: corrections.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 1413. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 2747. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[3]YourMoney Retired Pension Members (PFRS/SPRS subset). New Jersey Department of the Treasury. Row 371925 (member 44367520), snapshot as of March 31, 2026. Derived from the public YourMoney Retired Pension Members dataset, https://www.yourmoney.nj.gov/. ↩